Vests capable of securing weights to a person's torso during an exercise workout are known in the art. The typical vest fits around the torso of the wearer and is supported by the wearer's shoulders. Such a vest includes means for securing the vest to the wearer and means for securing weights, or weight packets, to the vest. For example, see the weighted vests disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,382,302 issued to Watson; 4,394,012 issued to Egbert et al.; 4,602,387 issued to Zakrzewski; 4,658,442 issued to Tomlinson et al.; and 5,144,694 issued to Conrad.
Weighted vests are particularly useful if they can be comfortably worn for extending periods of time during various types of exercise, for example, running, aerobics, exercising on a treadmill or stair-stepper, or participating in sports. However, if the weighted vest is not comfortable, or if restricts movement, significant use of the weighted vest may be limited to only a few types of exercises requiring only a minimum of movement for a short duration. For example, vests which extend to about the waistline of the wearer tend to interfere with the full movement of the wearer's abdomen and may prevent normal breathing. Weights carried by the vests which are not tightly secured to the wearer tend to experience a bouncing, or shifting, affect which provides discomfort to the wearer and prevents normal movement of the wearer. Additionally, since the vests are supported by the shoulders of the wearer, the shoulder harnesses of the vest which engage the shoulder can gauge or rub the wearer's shoulder causing discomfort and limiting frequency and duration of use of the vest.
Although various ones of the aforementioned and known weighted training vests may be satisfactory for their intended purposes, there is a need for an improved weighted training vest which provides optimal comfort to the wearer and which permits full body movement so that the vest can be frequently worn for extended periods of various exercises which require unrestricted movement of the wearer's abdomen, neck, shoulder and arms. In addition, the vest should be fully adjustable so that a single vest size can comfortably fit a range of male and female body sizes.